Mammijcrous Animals. 79 



greatest number of the means, the use of which we have seen, 

 for rendering them attached. Thus the dog species is indis- 

 putably the most domestic of all ; while the ox species, the 

 females of which alone experience our influence, and on which 

 we have had no other means of acting, for the purpose of 

 attaching them to us than feeding, is certainly that which least 

 belongs to us. And this difference between the dog and the 

 ox would still necessarily be increased by the difference of 

 fecundity of these two species. In fact, the dog, in an equal 

 time, submits to our influence a much greater number of gene- 

 rations than the ox. With the promptitude with which the 

 elephant becomes domestic, it is extremely probable that if our 

 influence could be exercised over a certain number of its 

 generations, it would become, like the dog, one of the most 

 submissive and affectionate of our animals, inasmuch as all the 

 means adapted for rendering animals domestic are calculated 

 to modify it. This transmission of individual modifications by 

 generation does Dot, however, afford a basis to domestication, 

 although it is indispensable to it. It is a general phenomenon 

 which has been observed in the wildest animals, as in those 

 that have been most subjected to our will. 



Let us inquire, therefore, now that we know the animals which 

 are associated with us, what is the disposition common to some 

 and foreign to others, which might be regarded as essential to 

 domesticity ; for it is impossible to conceive how we should 

 have succeeded in domesticating animals, had all of them 

 resembled the wolf, the fox, and the hyena, which constantly 

 seek seclusion, and even flee the presence of other individuals 

 of their own species. The more we examine the question, 

 the more evident does it become, that a high degree of intellect, 

 great mildness of character, the fear of chastisement or the 

 acknowledgment of benefits, are insufficient of themselves to 

 render an animal susceptible of domestication: and that a 

 particular disposition is indispensable to make animals submit 

 and attach themselves to the human species, and to render its 

 protection necessary to them. 



This disposition can only be ihc social instinct carried to a 

 very high degree, and accompanied with qualities calculated to 

 aid its influence and developcment ; for no solitary species, 

 however easy it may be to tame it, has afforded domestic races. 

 In fact, it is sufficient to examine this disposition, to see that 

 domesticity is but a mere modification of it. To establish this 

 truth, I shall merely consider the domestic animals, with 

 regard to man, as compared with what the social animals are 

 with regard to one another. 



When, by our benefits, we have attached to us individuals 



